Bethel Church of Christ in Bledsoe County
The “old building” was built in 1881 to replace the original Bethel Church of Christ, which had burned.T.A. Smith has not spent his entire life worshipping at Bethel Church of Christ in Bledsoe County, but he has spent most of it there. His parents took him there as a child, he was married there and, for the last 18 1/2 years, he has served as its minister.
His connection to the church, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary from Aug. 3-6, goes back even further. Before congregants constructed an actual building to worship in, they met in the home of John Rains, Smith’s great-great-grandfather. His grandfather was an elder later at Bethel as well.
“It’s where my family always went. My grandfather passed away some time ago, but people who remember him, when they find out who I am, it gives them a special glow,” he says. “I hope to stay there as long as I preach … It means the world to me.”
The current church, which is nestled between the Cumberland Plateau and Walden Ridge, sits about equidistant between Dunlap and Pikeville on Highway 127, and is located about a block from at its original location. Members today worship in a new, 10-year-old building because they outgrew the “old building,” which was built after a fire destroyed the original in 1881.
The new, brick building, includes classrooms, offices, a kitchen/dining around, a playground and and a pavilion out back.